Broadband service technicians will be needed if northern Wisconsin is to expand high-speed internet.
With that need in mind, three organizations have reached an agreement to establish an apprenticeship program for these technicians at Rhinelander’s Nicolet College, according to an Oct. 20 report by Wisconsin Public Radio.
The agreement was signed recently by Sokaogon Chippewa Community Chair Robert VanZile, Nicolet College President Kate Ferrel and David Polk, director of the Wisconsin Bureau of Apprenticeship Standards.
While heavily forested northern Wisconsin has benefitted from improved broadband coverage, areas in Forest and Florence counties remain underserved.
To improve high-speed internet service in the region, the Mole Lake Sokaogon Chippewa Community began a $72 million fiber-optic cable project earlier this year.
Over the next four years, the tribe would like to create a 900-mile fiber optic cable network to serve about 4,600 homes.
Nicolet College is taking applications this fall and expects to launch the apprenticeship program in the spring.
